January 02, 2016

Top-10 Books of 2015

Issue No. 336 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting delivers my Top-10 book picks from 2015 and three master lists of over 350 books I’ve reviewed since 2006. And this reminder: check out my Management Buckets website with dozens of resources and downloadable worksheets for your staff meetings. And click here for the final installment of Drucker Mondays on Jan. 4, 2016.

Top-10 Books of 2015

Woody Allen once said, “I took a speed-reading course where you run your finger down the middle of the page and was able to read War and Peace in 20 minutes. It’s about Russia.” I don’t speed-read my book picks—and I was blessed with a full client load again this year, so I averaged an eNews about twice a month—but who’s counting?

This last issue of 2015 features my annual recap of the books and resources I reviewed in 2015 (Issues No. 316 to 336). To read all the 2015 book reviews from Your Weekly Staffing Meeting, visit the archives here at my Buckets Blog. To download a PDF of the chronological list of book reviews from 2006 through today (all 336 issues), visit the Book Bucket on my Management Buckets website. A second book review list, with all books categorized within my 20 buckets, is also available. Last year I updated my personal list (not prescriptive for you) of my Top-100 books.

In 2015, I published 21 issues with reviews of 29 books/resources, including a governance toolbox and a nonprofit financial management survey from ECFA, and a Harvard Business Review article.

It's a tough assignment to narrow it down to 10 books that all have popular appeal, because all of us are at different levels of competency across the 20 management buckets. What were your top 10 books in 2015?

In Chapter 11, Dick Daniels notes six “Graceful Reminders” and he warns about “the danger of the 15%. Some people can be right 85% of the time. It is a powerful gift. The danger is when they assume they are right 100% of the time. They become relationally dangerous 15% of the time when they are wrong but think they are correct.”

I could have used this book 30 years ago—and saved myself and my team members from unnecessary leadership pain! Every chapter begs to be discussed and implemented in a weekly staff meeting. The chapter on delegation is worth the price of the book. I’ve used this book frequently in 2015 to engage leaders and managers in all-day team training sessions. Trust me, it’s a homerun!

The Other 9 on My 2015 Top-10 Book List(With brief excerpts from my reviews, these nine are listed in alphabetical order by author’s last name.)

The quotations on trust are numerous and memorable—over 100 for your PowerPoints, speaking notes, coffee break conversations, and tweets (download all 100 here): • “Our problem as leaders is we do everything we know to do. That’s not enough. We need to do everything God wants us to do.”(Richard Blackaby) • “A Christ-centered ministry that lacks trust is like a teenager running through a fireworks factory with a lit blowtorch. It isn’t whether something is going to blow up—it’s just a matter of when.” (Busby) • “Leadership is an achievement of trust.” (Peter F. Drucker)

In his chapter, “Tools to Build Perceptual Acuity,” the author highlights a mid-forties CEO, “Clare,” who meets with four other CEOs four times a year for dinner. “Their meetings, and informal conversations between get-togethers, serve as a sounding board for each to cross-check thinking and provide a foundation for superb foresight.

Macchia admits: “But I also make mistakes. I blunder. I think horrible thoughts. I’m an internal quagmire more often than I desire and in continual need of God’s grace. I know what it feels like to be a manipulator, and when not kept in check I can drive myself and others crazy with my perfectionistic tendencies. I’ve been deeply hurt by past failures. I’ve been disappointed by the attitudes and actions of others. And I see these same things in many others who are in leadership positions in the body of Christ.”

The author of this 52-week coaching gem asks in his “Practicum-Prompts” for Week 1, “Are you developing leaders in your organization, or are you developing bureaucratic, rule-following functionaries?”How would you answer that?

Start Mondays with Drucker in 2016! Visit the Drucker Mondays blog posts of the 52 guest writers I invited to share their color commentaries on all 52 chapters. Email the link to your team members each Monday. (You’ll delegate this, right?)

[ ] Soul Keeping: Caring for the Most Important Part of You, by John Ortberg (Read my review.)

Along with the humor—and it oozes with Ortberg’s special brand of clergy comedy—the pastoral pokes are memorable and needed. He quotes Dallas Willard: “You must arrange your days so that you are experiencing deep contentment, joy, and confidence in your everyday life with God.”

Key Log Question:“Other than money, what one opportunity (or obstacle) if captured (or removed) would most advance your mission/vision?”

Using the six-step plan in 1 Chronicles 28-29, Samelson shares his commentary on King David’s baton pass to his son, Solomon. This is one succession plan that actually worked! The temple was completed. Solomon thrived. Outgoing CEO David did not whine in the background.

You can blame Jerry White for this one. When Jerry and Mary White speak, I listen. I write it down. They are the real deal—and they don’t speak, write or recommend lightly. Jerry emailed me on the last day of 2014: “One of my bell-ringers this year was Leaders Eat Last, by Simon Sinek. Secular, but with such strong biblical ideas. Gen. [4 star] Kevin Chilton put me on to that book.”

The London church that launched Alpha, a no-pressure course exploring the Christian faith (now taught in 169 countries in 112 languages), described themselves as “a sailboat where everyone on board had an active role to play, versus a cruise ship where passengers were served but never served others.”

Don’t skip this one! The authors deliver well-researched and reasoned insights in their highly readable book with just 93 pages, not counting 25 more pages of robust resources, such as the descriptions of 24 character strengths developed by the VIA Institute on Character (my two favorite: hope and humor).

C.S. Lewis said, "It is a good rule after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between." And by the way, back in 2013, several readers submitted photos for “My Ideal Bookshelf.” (Click here to see what books Jeff Lilley, David Curry, Jason Pearson, Paul Thompson, Ken Sutterfield, and Greg Anderson have selected for their Top-10 lists—of all time! My Top-10 list is pictured above.)

Ideas for 2016:1) Delegate your reading. Assign books to other team members and ask for mini-reports at staff meetings. 2) Read relevant chapters only. Don't feel guilty for not finishing a book. 3) Hold high the value of sharpening the saw and model it yourself and reward others who read. 4) Budget for books. Invest in your people by investing in books. 5) Discover whether your people are readers or listeners. Audio books might be helpful to some.

I have some fantastic book reviews coming in 2016!

Your Weekly Staff Meeting is emailed free two to four times a month to subscribers, the frequency of which is based on an algorithm of book length, frequent flyer miles, and client deadlines. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers when writing book reviews. As a board member and raving fan of Christian Community Credit Union (a non-profit), we proudly run the credit union ad (above) at no charge.